Restructuring not Buhari administration’s priority — FG

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that given what the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari inherited, restructuring could not have been its priority.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the minister stated this on Thursday when he featured on a current affairs programme, ‘Focus Nigeria’, aired by the Africa Independent Television.

Mohammed explained that with the high level of corruption, economy downturn, insecurity, particularly with the activities of Boko Haram in the North-East, the government could not have contemplated restructuring.

He said the focus of the government, which also formed the basis of its campaign, was to fight corruption, insecurity and fix the economy.

The minister said two years after its inauguration, the administration had not failed but succeeded in delivering the three campaign promises.

He noted that the divisive messages and hate speeches raging presently in the country were not new to the government because the government had envisaged them and had been sensitising Nigerians to their dangers.

The minister assured all Nigerians to disregard any threat from any quarters.

He said the government would not be found wanting in the discharge of its primary responsibility of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians.

He added that government would deal decisively with anyone or group that disturbed the peace of the nation.

The minister said that contrary to the perception in certain quarters, the government’s anti-corruption fight was not one-sided or targeted at the opposition.

He said that anywhere there was an anti-corruption fight, corruption would fight back, stressing that the tension being experienced in the country could be linked to it.

He said before the government took over, corruption was so alarming that 55 persons stole N1.35trn in seven years.

Mohammed disclosed that N700bn was appropriated and released to the Ministry of Niger Delta only between 2009 and 2015 for road construction.

He said from the records made available, N453bn was paid to contractors, who did not do up to eight per cent of the construction job given to them.

The minister said the records also showed that the contracts were overinflated to the level that a kilometre of road was awarded for between N300m to N1.2bn.

He said the level of corruption was so much that the previous administration owed local contractors N1.7trn debts.

Mohammed said that beyond cleaning the mess left by the previous administration, the government had been spending massively on infrastructure, particularly roads, railways and power.

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